cbp1

Q: How do I change the language used by Spotlight to show Definitions?

     MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-Inch, Mid 2014)

     OS X 10.11

     Dictionary App version 2.2.1 (177)

 

When I look for a word using Spotlight the "Definition" section is showing results in Spanish rather than English. (image 1)

 

I've already checked and for the Dictionary App preferences, the only 2 selected sources are (image 2):

  1. New Oxford American Dictionary
  2. Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus

 

Also on System Preferences --> Language & Region, my Region is set to "United States" and the only Preferred Language is "English". (image 3)

 

Can anyone think of a possible fix? I don't really know where else to look.

 

Thanks!

 

Image 1

Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 6.36.45 PM.png

 

Image 2

Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 6.28.07 PM.png

 

Image 3

Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 6.27.34 PM.png

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11), Dictionary App version 2.2.1 (177)

Posted on Oct 16, 2015 4:45 PM

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Q: How do I change the language used by Spotlight to show Definitions?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by actionmarker,

    actionmarker actionmarker Oct 16, 2015 4:51 PM in response to cbp1
    Level 4 (1,883 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 16, 2015 4:51 PM in response to cbp1

    Launch the Dictionary in your Applications folder and select Dictionary Preferences

    You can select the Dictionaries that you want definitions from in there.


    Sorry, just reread your post


  • by cbp1,

    cbp1 cbp1 Oct 16, 2015 5:01 PM in response to actionmarker
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 5:01 PM in response to actionmarker

    Thanks, any ideas?

  • by actionmarker,

    actionmarker actionmarker Oct 16, 2015 5:14 PM in response to cbp1
    Level 4 (1,883 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 16, 2015 5:14 PM in response to cbp1

    You appear to have all your settings correct.

    You could try turning off your Spotlight Location Services to see if that is the reason why you are getting these results.

     

    System Preferences > Security & Privacy - Privacy Pane

    Under Location Services - System Services - Details, and uncheck Safari and Spotlight Suggestions.

     

    I can't imagine why this setting should have any effect on you Dictionary setting, unless your location is close a Spanish speaking location.

     

    Out of interest, if you look-up a work in Safari with the three-finger tap, what definitions are displayed there?

  • by cbp1,

    cbp1 cbp1 Oct 16, 2015 5:28 PM in response to actionmarker
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 5:28 PM in response to actionmarker

    Thanks,

     

    I turned off Location Services for Safari and Spotlight Suggestions, restarted my mac, but I'm still getting results in Spanish.

     

    I'm currently at a Spanish speaking country, but I'm not sure how that could affect the Spotlight behavior.

     

    Three-finger tap results work just fine:

    Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 7.19.26 PM.png

  • by TheMainEvent,

    TheMainEvent TheMainEvent Mar 1, 2016 6:22 AM in response to cbp1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 1, 2016 6:22 AM in response to cbp1

    I'm having the same issue, albeit in French. Is there really no fix for this problem?

  • by c0ffE3,

    c0ffE3 c0ffE3 Mar 31, 2016 3:39 PM in response to cbp1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 31, 2016 3:39 PM in response to cbp1

    I have a temporary solution. Just simply move " /Library/Dictionaries/(**dict you hate**).dictionary "  to anywhere else. But don't delete it in case you might use it later on. Hope there was any other solutions better than this.

  • by TheMainEvent,

    TheMainEvent TheMainEvent Jul 9, 2016 9:36 AM in response to cbp1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 9, 2016 9:36 AM in response to cbp1

    I've been having this issue (in French) and I've been looking around for a solution for quite a while. The spotlight dictionary will change depending on the language of your keyboard (mine is set to Canadian French). Switching to U.S. will only show the definitions in English. Bit annoying, but at least I found out why it's been doing this.

  • by prokher,

    prokher prokher Sep 4, 2016 4:31 AM in response to cbp1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 4, 2016 4:31 AM in response to cbp1

    Same problem. I've installed additional Russian-English dictionaries, but they do not appear in the spotlight search. I've even tried to remove all other dictionaries except these ones, but in such case Spotlight simply stop showing definitions. What I would like to achieve eventually is to enable Apple dictionary,  my English-Russian dictionaries and Wikipedia, but it seem simply not possible at the moment. Dictionary configuration does not influence Spotlight behavior (

  • by Tom Gewecke,

    Tom Gewecke Tom Gewecke Sep 4, 2016 5:35 AM in response to prokher
    Level 9 (79,035 points)
    Sep 4, 2016 5:35 AM in response to prokher

    prokher wrote:

     

    Same problem.

     

    3rd party dictionaries may be a different problem, I don’t think they ever work in Spotlight.  You can ask Apple to change that via

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback